38. Belfast Day 1


Once we had seen and walked on the Derry City Wall this morning, we headed towards Belfast but we had 2 more stops along the road before arriving at tonight’s digs.

Stop 1 was the Carrickfergusg Castle on the western side of Belfast. We both agreed it was one of the best old castles we’ve seen for a long, long time; and it was brought to life by the static displays and information boards throughout the castle.

The castle has guarded the entrance to Belfast since 1177. In 1210 King John successfully ordered a siege of the castle and took control of it.

Besieged by Scots, Irish, English and French, the castle has seen action right up until the end of WWII.

Our 2nd stop was Grey Abbey and true to form for us, it is located east of Belfast - thank goodness for ring roads that skirt our cities. 

Grey Abbey was built in 1193 and was in use as a parish church until it was burnt in 1572. It lay in ruin until Hugh Montgomery, a Scot, rebuilt it in 1605 and was again used as the parish church until 1778.

And our final stop was our lodgings for the next 2 nights - it’s in the heart of the city and has loads of Uni students living nearby, so the area is abuzz at the end of the day; and there are loads of eating and drinking places from which to choose.

Tomorrow we surrender our hire car, as all we need to do or see from here on, we can do on foot; or using Belfast’s Hop on:Hop off bus.

The photo is of the Carrickfergus Castle, here in Belfast.


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